SYNTHESES OF RIGID AND SEMIRIGID MOLECULES FOR INVESTIGATIONS OF PHOTOINDUCED ELECTRON-TRANSFER REACTIONS

Investigations of electron transfer reactions in donor-spacer-acceptor (DSA) molecules posessing small numbers of reactive conformations have significantly increased understanding of factors that control transfer rate constants. The syntheses of polynorbornane-based DSA molecules 12, 16, 20, 26, 30, and 34 and heptacyclotetradecane-based DSA molecules 40, 47, 51, and 60 are described. These molecules have been used to explore the effects of electronic symmetry, solvent electronic structure, and temperature on photoinduced electron transfer reactions.